Dolichonyx oryzivorus

Order

Family

Code 4

Code 6

ITIS

ILLUSTRATION

PHOTOS

CONSERVATION STATUS

The Bobolink has a large range that is estimated to be about 3,900,000 square kilometers globally. It breeds in grassland habitats in much of the northern United States and southern Canada. It winters in wet grasslands in Bolivia, western Brazil, Paraguay, and northern Argentina. The global population of the bird is estimated at 11,000,000 individuals. While the population trends have not been determined, they are not believed to meet or approach the population decline criteria that mandate inclusion to the IUCN Red List. Because of these population trends, the Bobolink has an evaluation level of Least Concern.

Range and Habitat

Bobolink: Breeds from southern British Columbia across southern Canada to Nova Scotia and south to eastern Oregon, central Colorado, central Illinois, western Virginia, and western North Carolina. Spends winters in southern South America. Preferred habitats include prairies and meadows; stays on marshes during migration.

Bobolink SONGS AND CALLS

Bobolink B1

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Song is a mix of high warbled notes, whistles, and gurgles.

Bobolink C1

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Flight call is a repeated "pink".

Similar Sounding

Voice Text

"bob-o-link, bob-o-link, pink, pink, pank, pink"

INTERESTING FACTS

Each fall, they gather in large numbers in southern rice fields, where their habit of eating grain has earned them the name "ricebird." They are collected as food in Jamaica, where they are called “butter birds”--a commentary on how fat they are as they pass through on migration.

The Bobolink is the only American bird that is black underneath and white on the back. This coloring makes the male stand out while he is performing his displays. After breeding he changes into a drab, camouflaged plumage to spend the rest of the year.

They are one of the few songbirds that undergo two complete molts each year, completely changing its feathers on both the breeding and wintering grounds.

A group of bobolinks are collectively known as a "chain" of bobolinks.

SIMILAR BIRDS

RANGE MAP NORTH AMERICA

About this North America Map

This map shows how this species is distributed across North America.

FAMILY DESCRIPTION

Blackbirds (Icteridae)

ORDER

The largest taxonomic order of birds, the PASSERIFORMES (pronounced pas-ser-i-FOR-meez), is divided into one hundred eighteen families and encompasses over half the world's known bird species, including many familiar birds such as finches, swallows, thrushes and blackbirds.

FAMILY TAXONOMY

The blackbird family, Icteridae (pronounced ik-TER-i-dee), includes one hundred and four species in twenty-seven genera found only in the New World.

NORTH AMERICA

There are fifty-seven species of blackbirds in thirteen genera that occur in North America; included in this family are the long-tailed grackles, brightly colored orioles, and the meadowlarks and bobolink of the grasslands.

KNOWN FOR

Blackbirds such as the Red-winged Blackbird are known for their highly social flocking behavior while orioles are more known for their colorful plumage and woven hanging nests. In the case of the meadowlarks, it is their pleasant prairie songs that bring them recognition.

PHYSICAL

Most blackbirds and orioles are slender, long-tailed birds while the grassland loving meadowlarks, Bobolink and cowbirds have chunkier bodies and short tails. Despite these differences in body shape, all blackbirds share a sharp, straight bill that can be used to forage for both small creatures and grain. All blackbirds also have fairly long legs and strong feet.

COLORATION

Males of several blackbird species have mostly black plumage highlighted by iridescence or bits of bright color such as red markings in the wings or staring yellow eyes. Females lack such attention getting aspects to their plumage but make up for it with subtle browns and streaked patterns that camouflage them while sitting on their nests. Streaked, cryptic plumage also helps hide both sexes of meadowlarks while orioles stand out with striking orange, yellow and black plumages.

GEOGRAPHIC HABITAT

In the United States and Canada, blackbird species are primarily birds of non-forest or second growth habitats including wetlands and in the case of meadowlarks and the Bobolink, grasslands. The lone forest dependent species is the Rusty Blackbird; a bird of wooded swamps.

MIGRATION

Most blackbirds are short distance migrants that leave the cold north for the milder winters of the southern states although the orioles and the Bobolink undertake long distance migrations to Central and South America.

HABITS

Most blackbirds are very social in nature with some species taking this behavior to an extreme in southern fields and wetlands during the winter months. In such areas, wintering flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds and grackles can form conglomerations of tens of thousands of birds that fill the country air with their rusty calls and sound of rushing wings.

CONSERVATION

The Icteridae include some of the most abundant bird species in North America. Nevertheless, two species, the Rusty and Tricolored Blackbirds, are threatened or endangered because of loss of their wetland habitats. One species, the Slender-billed Grackle, is presently listed as extinct, also due to the loss of its wetland habitat.

INTERESTING FACTS

The blackbird family includes the only brood parasites in North America; the cowbirds. Like the Old World Common Cuckoo, instead of building their own nests, cowbirds leave their eggs in the nests of other species; a behavior that has a negative impact on the host species' nestlings and has contributed to the decline in many songbird species populations. Many species of grackle are mimics, having the ability to reproduce some sounds they commonly hear around them; for those living in developed areas, car alarms are a frequently learned and reproduced sound.